Baroque and minimalism juxtaposed in Glass Handel

By Edward Sava-Segal, 28 November 2018

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“In the center of all this whirlwind, Costanzo remained an image of calm and self-confidence”

Reviewed at Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, New York City on 26 November 2018

Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof

Handel, Amadigi, HWV 11: Pena tiranna

Glass, Songs from Liquid Days

Handel, Flavio, HWV 16: Rompo i lacci, e frango i dardi

Handel, Rinaldo, HWV 7: Lascia ch'io pianga

Glass, Monsters of Grace: In The Arc Of Your Mallet

Handel, Rodelinda, HWV 19: Vivi tiranno

Handel, Tolomeo, Re d'Egitto, HWV 25: Inumano fratel.... Stille amare

Glass, Fall of the House of Usher: How all living things breathe

Handel, Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40: Ombra mai fù

Glass, Akhnaten: Hymn to the Sun

The Knights

Eric Jacobsen, Cello

Anthony Roth Costanzo, Countertenor

Opera Philadelphia

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Opera by committee: Opera Philadelphia premieres Complications in Sue

Cameron Kelsall, 4th February

Opera Philadelphia commissions ten composers to tell the story of an ordinary woman's idiosyncratic march from cradle to tomb.

****1

A didactic Decameron: The Seasons at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 20th December

Conceived by Anthony Roth Costanzo and Sarah Ruhl, this high-handed pasticcio sets the climate crisis to a soundtrack of Vivaldi.

***11

A long, strange trip: Opera Philadelphia’s Il viaggio a Reims

Cameron Kelsall, 19th September

The intrepid company brings Damiano Michieletto’s well-traveled production of a Rossini rarity to the US for the first time.

***11

The Listeners: daring psychological thriller at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 25th September

The new opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek draws on cult mindsets and conspiracy theories but smartly avoids sensationalism.

****1

Opera Philadelphia's Unholy Wars creates a dialogue with Monteverdi

Cameron Kelsall, 23rd September

Arab-American tenor Karim Sulayman devises a thoughtful pastiche that centers the perspective omitted from Early Modern depictions of the Middle East in music.

****1

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

Baroque and minimalism juxtaposed in Costanzo’s adventurous Glass Handel